We were out early the next am into questionable weather once more. We decided to drop the pinfish next to some markers on the way out before trout fishing.
Now, I had helped boat my first legal Cobia 2 weeks earlier so at this point qualify as a novice expert in that area. I let LD have the first drop while LD and K hit another marker. Pinfish over the side on a flat line 10 feet from the post. The pinfish swam peacefullly oh for about 10 seconds when LD is suddenly hanging on for dear life a and reeling like mad. The fish heads down near the channel marker ripping off line against a stiff drag. Suddenly all is quiet and there is a limp line hanging from the rod. 30 lb. test will hold only so long against a rusty post. Oh well, my turn. I am fishing pretty quickly and no sooner has my pinfish hit the water than my drag is singing. I am trying to instruct LD on getting around the post before the same results develop. He had the boat on plane in reverse then in forward at the same time. How we didn't het the post or spin off the prop is a mystery to me. I would say that it was fate, but being a good Calvinist, it had to be predestined!. The fish was still on and twenty minutes later we were swinging a 46" cobe into the cooler, having to double up his tail to close the lid. We caught a few more pins and tried some more posts without luck.. Our friends in the other boat had no luck.
Back to the grass flats for a limit by noon on jigs, you guessed it, under a CT. The fish were in the same area with a couple of 23"ers coming out of some water a litttle shallower by BD and K. Were it not for limits the catch might have been scandalous. On the way back in we LD and I hit the markers again. This time LD kept his cobe clear of the marker post and it was soon nestled next to mine from the morning in the cooler.
Once again, L and BD had no luck due to some operator error with a reel.
The day's highlights:
The next mornig we awoke to thunder lighting and downpour. It being the last day we decided to head home a little early-NOT! We headed to the water and were launching as the last rain drops were falling with clearing skies to the west! The pinfish trap had only a few in it so we took them and packed the remainder of my thawed and thouroughly nasty squid into it and hit the channel markers. No takers so it was offf to the flats. With the stalled front now moving along, the winds were lighter and so was the bite. LD and I had one limit between us on varied lures by the time quitting time was bearing down on us-had to be back for a baseball game at 6 pm. Still high from our cobes the day before we headed back to the markers. First two, no takers. At the third one we approached out of the sun with a flat surface. To our glee we could see a cobe on the bottom. Down goes the pinfish just to the brownsuited one's left. A flash of white heralded a gulped pinfish and another hookup. After about 15 minutes I am ready to catch one so we bring this one in a little green but some adrenaline put him gaff and all in the cooler without using the backboard and 230 lbs on the lid kept him on ice. We were down to a 1 1/2" pinfish, but I was willing to give it a try. Before we could get into casting distance from the post it looked like two of Darth Vader's Battle cruisers slid slowly right under the boat. Tarpon! Both about half as long as my 22ft. boat. The trouble was was that I couldn't sling that little pinfish in front of them and soon they were gone. On th the post. We now realized we could see to the bottom of the post and that there were no cobes there. On to the next post. On the way we see a HUGE cobia crusing in the other direction, but after turning we couldn't find him again. At the post we see not one but four cobia at the bottom. Down goes my widows mite offering. The first fish goes right to it hits it with its nose and turns away. The next one does the same thing, but the third one hits it turns away then thinks again and inhales the morsel. Fish on, baot backed away from the post. 15 minutes later another cobe crammed in the cooler. Both of these were right at 46". BD and K show up a little later. We go to check the pinfish trap and have hit the mother load. We haul these out to the other guys. They get hooked up and broken off twice then the fish won't bite. LD does manage another smaller cobe that we unhook at the side of the boat.
We are congratulated by the Man in the Green suit at the ramp-probably the nicest Wildlife officer I have ever run across.
Back home just a little late for baseball. Three outstanding days on the water.
Now we've got to have that fish fry to open up some freezer space so I can go again!
Also, forgot to mention. We switched from the rubberized landing net back to the string net and didn't lose a fish at the boatside.
Nuts
